Europe By Campervan
Our adventures in a mobile home
Accidental Austrian Strudel
Aug 18th
Rain, rain, rain! We had hoped to make the most of Lake Constanz but the only constant has been a steady downpour. Luckily, while drifting through Friedrichshafen, we spotted signs for the Zepplin Museum and decided to check it out on a whim. As it was early, we were fortunate enough to find a parking space easily but they were few and far between when we returned to the van. Get there early if you don’t want parking headaches. The museum itself was fascinating. I can’t believe how huge the Zepplins were, especially considering how few passengers they could carry. What we did find rather odd was that the top floor was home to an art exhibition. The rather tenuous reason (or should that be excuse?) for its existence was a little sign with the words “Science is art and art is science”.
We found a Stellplatz adjoining a campsite near Lindau. At last a chance to do some washing! A brief break in the steady downpour allowed us to go for a cycle to explore the area. We stopped at a cafe for a warming cup of tea and a very delicious apple strudel. On the cycle home we noticed a sign showing the way to Deutscheland and realised that we had accidentally strayed across the border into Austria for our strudel!
Lindau bay lit up at night
When evening fell we cycled, away from Austria this time, into Lindau town. The bay is lit up at night and is very pretty, apart from a rather odd neon sign at the top of a statue which changes every few minutes from a smiley face to a sad face. The restaurants on the water front are very expensive but a short walk to the end of the row will take you to a funky little cafe which serves cake and beer, a combination I have come to love 
We suspect that although it has a lovely riviera feel at night it would be very different in the day, heaving with tourists.
Washing woes
Aug 17th
We usually try to avoid industrial towns as they don’t tend to have a lot of interesting sights to visit. Singen is no exception, but we stopped there as it was on our way to Lake Constanz. There is a fortified castle which looks over the town and it is worth trekking uphill for some good views over the surrounding countryside. Apple trees are abundant on the path up to the castle and we made the most of it by doing some serious scrumping. I had to be careful not to stab one of my eyes out as I teetered on David’s shoulders, desperately reaching for wormless specimens.
Previously we have done all of our washing at campsites, however in Germany we have only stayed in Stellplatz which are far cheaper but have limited services. We have struggled to find self-service laundromats in towns and consequently our washing is starting to take over the van. Soon we won’t be able to move for dirty t-shirts!
Like Clockwork
Aug 15th
The bizarre crucifixion clock
As if we hadn’t had enough of clocks already our trip today was to the German Clock Museum in Furtwangen. This was absolutely fascinating, starting with a cuckoo clock that morbidly depicts the crucifixion scene every hour on the hour. That’s a lot of stabbing and nailing! We learned a lot, especially about the history of time keeping.
Apparently it was common practise for neighbouring towns to have different time measurements (10 hours to a day here, 12 there etc), and some even changed the length of hours as the seasons changed. The museum provides a free booklet in English with all the information you need for a visit.
On our way to Blumberg we made a spontaneous stop at the Rothaus brewery. Unfortunately it was closed, being Sunday, apart from the shop where we bought our very first keg of German beer. 5 delicious litres of weissbier for the bargain price of €10! Be sure to read the instructions (or little pictures for us non-German speakers) before using it as you may end up, like us, spraying the inside of your van with a coating of white foam!
Cuckoomania
Aug 14th
Clocks for sale
Our morning adventure was a spontaneous trip to the Vogtsbauernhof (Black Forest Open Air Museum), a charming village of sorts containing local houses from different periods, some of them relocated many miles, brick by brick, to the site. Inside you learn how people lived in those days, and can also watch as craftsmen (and women) create products from the times. We almost bought a little whistle which had a dancing couple that spun when you blew it, until we realised that it would be pretty useless except for attracting randy ducks.
There are quite a number of houses on the site, and you have to have a good attention span to take everything in. I started to get bored after the eighth one, especially when so many of them are based on the same working model. There are only so many farming implements in the loft one can see before the novelty wears off!
The hotel Pfaff is beautiful
On our way towards Triberg we stopped to see a giant cuckoo clock, one of several in the area. This is cuckoo clock country. Every few miles you see signs for “the house of 1000 cuckoo clocks”, though I doubt anybody has bothered to count them. They range from cheap and tacky clocks for a few euros to several thousand for gorgeous hand carved versions. Triberg is famed for its waterfall, but was far too touristy for our liking hence we only stopped for a very short visit.
Schweet Schiltach
Aug 13th
Another day, another picturesque village in the Black Forest, this time Schiltach. An abundance of historical museums dot the town. The timber museum is free (for dogs too) and gives an interesting insight into how the area accumulated its wealth by bringing trees down the river from the surrounding hills. They have ample information in English available and a very friendly English-speaking guide on site ,who was ever so keen to tell me all about his 10 years of living in London in the 60′s. The apothecary museum costs €2 per person (but no dogs allowed). It has several rooms full of torturous looking devices and evil medicines. It is astonishing to think that DDT was once used as a human delousing hairspray! The museum is on the site of a pharmacy built in the 1800s and is neatly preserved in its original state. The sweet little old lady that takes your entrance fee directed me from one contraption filled room to another with much gusto, even when I was clearly yawning with disinterest after five rooms of objects had been closely scrutinized.
There are many culinary delights to try in the Black Forest. We picked up some lardons made from Black Forest pigs in the local metzgerei (butcher) and used them in a couple of dishes. Mmm, tasty! They also make delicious beersticks (smoked sausages) which David is always trying to buy in large quantities. I have to watch him closely! We have found that meat is very cheap in Germany, especially pork products. They also have a huge range of interesting breads. At long last, after so many white baguettes, our digestive systems are enjoying the health benefits of unrefined foods. Sadly we weren’t so enamoured with Black Forest Gateau which proved to be very sugary and sadly lacking in cherries and chocolate. You can never have too many cherries and chocolate!
Into the Black Forest
Aug 10th
We have made a surprising discovery. Germany seems to be allergic to visa. Shops don’t accept visa debit or credit cards. The petrol stations do, however, and you are able to draw cash out of some ATMs but not all of them. I think this is a nationwide aversion to the heavy charges that you have to pay when accepting cards of any sort. It does mean that we have to travel with a much larger sum of money than usual to cover grocery and beer bills.
We wound our way through the Black Forest to Gengenbach, a photogenic medieval town. It is like something straight out of a movie set with cuckoo clocks, black forest gateau in abundance and gabled roofs at every turn. Almost every town in the Black Forest follows this magical formula. We ventured on to Sasbachwalden to be greeted by the same imagery. A fantastic starting point for walks, we discovered hilly terrain crisscrossed with forests and vineyards. A steep climb led us up a tumbling waterfall shrouded by green leafy woods. At the top we were rewarded with seeing our very first reindeer.
Deutscheland
Aug 8th
Frieburg has wonderful architecture
Deutscheland! Quite often we’re not sure when we have crossed the border from one European country into another as there are no border posts. It became blindingly obvious though when our TomTom stopped showing a speed limit and BMWs flew past us at 200km/h – we were on the autobahn!
German efficiency was apparent to us right from the start. We arrived at the Stellplatz (the German version of camperstops), parked the van and walked across to the office. A minute later, as we were trying to work out what to do, the official arrived and asked us if we were the English owners of the van parked across the way. He had left a note on our windscreen asking us to come to the office to sort out payment!
Freiburg is Germany’s southern most city (apparently the most sunny too) and has excellent green credentials. It is famous for its Munster church, worth a visit as well as the square it sits, in which has a market every week day. We had our first Bratwurst, mine a hectic curry flavour and David’s a traditional grilled version.
Many buildings retain their original character
We visited a wine festival in the main square and tried a Rielsing (heaven) and a very potent red which left a salty encrustation on the glass. Speaking to the wine buff we were told that very good red wines produce this calcium deposit. Clearly we have not been drinking enough very expensive wines then! Another worthwhile excursion in Freiburg is climbing the hill with the Schlossberg tower which gives a fine view of the excellent architecture in Freiburg.
Switzerland
Aug 7th
Switzerland is expensive! We had been on holiday to Gruyere before so were prepared for the higher cost of living, or so we thought. Restaurants are pricey (20 Francs for a salad at the places we looked at) so we didn’t eat out, and a nights camping near Bern the capital cost a massive €40. We also had to pay road tax – €31 for a 2010 pass. However, don’t let the cost put you off visiting as there is a lot to see and do.
Bern (named after the brown bears which used to frequent the area) is a wonderful city perched high above a thunderous, fast flowing river of an incredible aquamarine colour. The main city bridge is covered with fences to protect sightseers from taking a nasty tumble (or drunken dare-dive) but they kindly leave one bit unprotected for taking photos. With many sights to see we settled for a stroll about the place after dark. The architecture and style of the town is impressive.
Driving through Switzerland is a lot slower than France with the limit on most roads set at 80km/h. The countryside is dotted with pretty little wooden houses which make the slower journey quite pleasant. Strangely though a lot of places looked quite run down which is not what we were expecting from a country housing some of the world’s wealthiest banks!
With our limited time and budget our visit to Switzerland was very short, really no more than a quick drive-through. Next time we will make more effort to sample some of Switzerlands delights. Mmm, cheese and chocolate! 
Anon to Annency
Aug 5th
Annency is famed for its crystal clear blue lake. We weren’t disappointed! Even in the pouring rain the lake still retains its magical colour. We dared to brave the downpour by walking in search of some local wine, but ended up rather sodden and had to resort to driving to a nearby supermarket. The next day the sun made an appearance and we could truly appreciate the beautiful landscapes.
The camping ground we stayed in was a municipal site (only 1 star) with extremely basic facilities. Incredibly they had so many wash basins that there was almost one per motorhome, but there was only one toilet for the entire site!
Although Annency is gorgeous it is also heaving with tourists in August. We found it difficult to navigate the hoards of cars, bikes and pedestrians after the relative quiet countryside we have experienced up to now. We decided to head up to the hills, and found an incredible free camping spot close to the border of Switzerland with spectacular views of Mt Blanc. Cows in the field next to us made an absolute racket as their bells clonked at different pitches, but quietened down after sunset when they went to sleep. Well, most of them anyway. One greedy critter stayed up until almost midnight munching and clonking her bell. Perhaps she had a secret stash of grass hidden away …
Medieval Estaing
Aug 2nd
Needing to recover from a week of socialising (and almost constant drinking) we went in search of some quiet time, north of the Lot region, on our way towards Germany. By chance we ended up in a very picturesque medieval village called Estaing, perched on the side of a hill with a river running through it. The local municipal campsite charges only €8 per night which we happily took advantage of. Moments after setting up camp a thunderstorm came down, forcing us to stay in the van and catch up on some much needed sleep.
